Exercise used to be second nature for me before my stroke. I used to do flow yoga at 4pm daily, 4-mile walks with Autumn daily, and frequent outdoor runs. Now my vestibular symptoms, headaches, and stubborn back pain turned movement into a whole new negotiation.

So I outsmarted the resistance by pairing exercise with the one routine I never abandon — my podcast!

As I demonstrate Day 1 of a 7-day, 30-minute, low-impact exercise plan ✨SEE LINK TO EXERCISE PLAN BELOW ✨ (sit-to-stands, supported lunges, calf raises, weight shifts, heel-to-toe walking), I also share what’s been rattling around in my head: self-imposed crisis, expectations, ego, motives, and the tension between showing up for others versus showing up for myself. As the inner debate built a verdict, I landed on the role of gratitude in my life after stroke.

Link to Recovery Exercise Program Week 1: https://recoverydailypodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Exercise_Week1.pdf

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#StrokeRecoveryExercises #VestibularRecovery #PostStrokeRehab #GratitudeInRecovery #AdaptiveFitness

An unscripted check-in about enjoying the Super Bowl without looking at the TV, navigating vestibular limits, sober traditions, and the quiet mental load of noticing what affects symptoms.

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#vestibulardiscorder #vestibular #sobersuperbowl #soberlife #vestibularmigraine

Practicing Step 1 in stroke recovery is the activation point of building a psychological immune system. By accepting that my stroke changed my life forever, I could then begin adapting to the injury without exhausting myself in a constant fight against reality. Admitting powerlessness and unmanageability over my neurological injury took two years. In both alcoholism and stroke recovery, denial delayed healing. No matter how hard I tried to act normal, I was only making things worse. Step 1 interrupted that pattern. Once I accepted my disability, I could start healing physically and psychologically.

Each day I make decisions based on today’s brain, not yesterday’s. I must accept my fatigue, visual overload, and pacing as reality not failures. This is the same muscle I built in sobriety, accepting that alcohol was not an option and building a life around that truth. Acceptance stabilized life, strengthening my psychological resilience allowing for healing, adaptation, and hope.

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#strokeRecovery #StepOneAA #AcceptanceInRecovery #PsychologicalResilience #LivingInAcceptance #lifeafterstroke

Step 1 in my stroke recovery started the same way Step 1 did in my sobriety. I had to admit that I’m powerless over my disability just as I did my alcoholism, and that my life had become unmanageable. I was in denial prior to the moment of admission in both situations. No one could see what was wrong with me, and with both, all the pain was between my ears. I could describe symptoms, explain the pain, but I dismissed the severity with both. I tried to function normally while the pain gradually got worse each time. I pushed through and convinced myself the pain would go away. It never did.

Step One taught me to become self-aware. Stroke recovery took that lesson I learned in sobriety and turned the volume all the way up. Now I’m conscious of my eye movement, my pace, my gaze, the tiny shifts that most people don’t even notice but trigger pain for me. I see the same pattern in my addiction cravings and my impulse in stroke recovery to push beyond the limits of what my brain can do. My biggest challenge isn’t knowing what I can’t do, it’s accepting it.

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#StrokeRecovery #AcceptingUnmanageability #RecoveryJourney #RadicalAcceptance #LifeAfterStroke #step1

What are you afraid of, and would you be willing to expose your fears? I used to be afraid to leave the house, talk to people, and even answer the phone. Now, at 9.5 years sober, many of my fears have been addressed, while a few are still very much alive. The biggest thread for me, abandonment, was exposed the first time I did my Step 4 in 2017. I have some irrational fears that I work on with my psychiatrist weekly, and although they aren’t reasonable they are very real and scary for me.

Sobriety has grown my confidence and shifted my perspective on so much. I encourage you to get out a piece of paper and a pen (remember what those are?) and listen to this list of fears. This is a great opportunity to learn about yourself and build a life where fear doesn’t drive the bus. You might not even notice the fears you return to most often.

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#EmotionalSobriety #StepFour #FacingFear #InnerWork #RecoveryDaily

Everything in my head feels like a five-alarm fire. How do I take my emotional emergencies and right-size my thoughts and emotions so they match the situation I’m actually in. I tend to treat discomfort like it’s urgent, permanent, and catastrophic. Not every uncomfortable feeling requires an immediate action, and sometimes no response at all is the wisest.

I’ve always had big emotions, but big feelings don’t require big actions. The majority of my time is spent emotionally time-traveling. I’m either reliving the past or panicking about the future. If I can sit with discomfort long enough to see where it took root, I can choose a response that matches the size of the situation, and build new habits of self-awareness and emotional regulation. I’m not a victim of my emotions.

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#EmotionalRegulation #MentalHealthAwareness #EmotionalWellness #MindfulnessPractice #selfawareness

When I’m pissed at someone, I played a role in the communication breakdown. I must stop fixating on what the other person did to me and look honestly at where I’ve been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking, or afraid (without turning it into a shame-fest).

It’s humbling to set aside the emotional inner retaliation and ask, “What was my part?” So in today’s episode, I admit some of my real-life mistakes 😬 and those character defects I still battle, like wanting things my way, jealousy, wanting to be the best, and wanting to be liked. Gratitude is the best antidote.

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#StepFour #AARecovery #SobrietyJourney #gratitude #step4

Long-held resentments are the trickiest. Sobriety removes the anesthesia that kept old pain muted, so these resentments start peeking out of the chaos as the numbing wears off. Time fossilized them into the foundation of my life. Step Four gives those resentments a voice. What do I do with resentments when I can’t talk to the person? When they’re unreachable, unavailable, or no longer alive, closure doesn’t have to be a conversation. It can be an internal shift.

Step Four pulls me out of a mental courtroom. In my head, every resentment turns into a trial with a judge, jury, prosecutor, and defendant trying to prove who’s guilty. But Step Four acknowledges what was threatened: my safety, identity, self-worth, etc. And then I get to notice my behavioral patterns. Holding on to a resentment simply re-injures myself, repeating the same wound. The “magical” part of Step Four is asking what my role was when my brain keeps insisting I’m only the victim. Step Four lets me look back just long enough to extract the lesson, put it in my pocket, and walk forward. That’s where serenity is born. I’m loosening my grip on what no longer serves me, freeing up the energy I need for recovery, and rewiring my reactions.

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#StepFour #AARecovery #SobrietyJourney #OneDayAtATime #step4